In Massachusetts, researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will develop a breeding program for sugar kelp–Saccharina latissima, one of the most commercially important species–using the latest gene sequencing and genomic resources for faster, more accurate and efficient selective breeding thanks to a $3.7 million ARPA-E grant. The breeding program will build a library of genetic […]
In Iowa, researchers at Ames Laboratory are working to reach the goal of deconstructing lignin commercially, experimenting with chemical reactions that decompose lignin models at low temperatures and pressures. There are already known ways of salvaging useful byproducts out of lignin through the addition of a stabilization process. But they took both the decomposition and […]
In Washington, researchers at Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discovered a method of converting algae biofuel waste product into a usable and valuable commodity. Waste is produced during the first step of converting algae to biofuels via hydrothermal liquefaction. The wastewater is usually hard to process because it has so many different […]
In California, working with the plant growth-promoting bacterium Pseudomonas simiae, researchers have identified 115 genes that negatively affect its ability to colonize a plant root system when mutated. A plant’s health and development is influenced by the complex community of microbes that surround it. By identifying the bacterial genes that can alter how well microbes […]
In Missouri, researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a small, modular skid-mounted biodiesel production facility ideal for smaller communities and towns to recycle used cooking oil. The system uses a supercritical process that eliminates salt, allowing it to concentrate the glycerin/water mixture and significantly reduce the amount of glycerin produced […]
In Canada, Agrisoma Biosciences Inc., is expanding its partnership with the University of Florida (UF) to advance the supply of bio jet fuel in the United States. The Quebec-based company and its subsidiary, Agrisoma USA, is working with a network of 40 academic researchers from seven Universities associated with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural […]
In South Dakota, camelina and carinata may be one stop closer to becoming economically viable biofuel feedstocks due to extracting a substance called glucosinolate. Researchers from South Dakota State University developed a means of extracting glucosinolate from the oilseed meal, which may lead to high-value uses for the chemical. The presence of glucosinolate limits the […]
In France, scientists at Mulhouse Institute of Materials Science are finding ways to use olive oil wastewater, a harmful pollutant, for useful products, like biofuel and fertilizer. They mixed wastewater created from olive oil production with cypress sawdust, another waste product that is common in the Mediterranean, where 97 percent of the world’s olive oil […]
In New York state, researchers from Cornell University’s Boyce Thompson Institute and Texas A&M University report in Plant Direct exciting new technology that may revolutionize the search for the perfect algal strain: Algal droplet bioreactors on a chip. A single algal cell is captured in a tiny droplet of water encapsulated by oil – imagine […]
In the UK, the European Commission has proposed adding molasses to a list of advanced biofuel feedstocks eligible for support in the 2021-2030 timeframe under the recast Renewable Energy Directive. Final stage molasses resulting from multiple steps of sugar refining is not typically used for food, and so its use in biofuel would not directly […]
